with assistance from statistical Hillary Plummer and technical Wendi Weimar

USA Defeats Puerto Rico

The USA took on Puerto Rico today at 4:00 pm CST in Mexico City as a part of the Senior Men’s NORCA Tournament. Team USA took the court ready to play with fierce intensity both on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Ivan Ignjatovic got his first start in goal of the tournament and made 7 saves. The defense was anchored in the middle by physical play from Jordan Fithian, Vladimir Bicvic, and Martin Axelson. Puerto Rico aggressively tried to take Javier Galindo out of the offense with one-on-one coverage however Javier had 1 goal on a penalty shot. Puerto Rico’s one-on-one coverage of Javier opened up the floor for the team to efficiently run their 5-on-5 offense. The first half of the game was close with Puerto Rico taking a 15-14 lead after 30 minutes of play.

In the second half of action USA continued their aggressive style of play against the Puerto Ricans. Danny Caparelli was stellar in the goal making 9 key saves that allowed team USA to take a lead that they would not relinquish. The offense was lead by Gary Hines with 8 goals, Adam Elzoghby with 7 goals, and Martin Axelson with 6 goals. Jordan Fithian, Vladimir Andjelic, and Vladimir Bicvic contributed 2 goals each. The final score of the game was 29-26. Team USA returns to action tomorrow February 28th against Greenland at 4 pm CST as they seek their second win and a birth to the Pan American Championships. The game will be streamed live at http://www.ustream.tv/handball2011.